Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what response it has made or will make to the conclusion of the 1997 report by the Scottish Ambulance Service Association Pensions and Retirement Age Working Group that "the proportion of front line staff who are retiring on ill-health grounds is unacceptably high".

Susan Deacon: The report concerned was produced by the Ambulance Service Association and is based on statistical evidence from Ambulance Services in England and Wales between 1991-92 and 1994-95. In Scotland the occupational health and safety service strategy Towards a Safer Healthier Workplace, which was published in December 1999, makes clear that NHS in Scotland organisations must develop policies aimed at reducing costs associated with OHSS issues, including sickness absence, injury benefits claims, and early retirement costs due to illness, accidents and injury.

  Our aim is to provide security of employment and to retain experienced officers in useful employment within the service.

Ambulance Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time taken to answer a 999 call was in each ambulance control room in each of the last three years.

Susan Deacon: These figures are not collected. I refer the member to the answer to question S1W-11822.

Ambulance Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of 999 calls to ambulance control rooms were answered within 10 seconds in each of the last three years.

Susan Deacon: Figures have only been held centrally since October 2000, and will in future be collected on a monthly basis. Performance for October 2000, by Operations Room, against the target of answering 95% of 999 calls within 10 seconds, is shown in the table:

  


Aberdeen 
  

Ayr 
  

Dundee 
  

Edinburgh 
  

Glasgow 
  

Inverness 
  

Motherwell 
  

Paisley 
  



95% 
  

71.4% 
  

88.5% 
  

82% 
  

90% 
  

99.3% 
  

83% 
  

54.3%

Ambulance Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died in ambulances en route for emergency admission to hospital in each of the last three years, broken down by ambulance control room, and in how many of these cases was it concluded that a delay in ambulance response was a factor in the death.

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases in each of the last three years it has been concluded that a patient suffered a permanent physical or mental disability as a result of a delay in ambulance response, broken down by ambulance control room.

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases in each of the last three years it has been concluded that a fatality resulted from a delay in ambulance response, broken down by ambulance control room.

Susan Deacon: These figures are not held centrally. I am aware that the Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service has arranged a meeting at which he will be able to discuss these matters with you.

Autism

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to introduce a central register of people diagnosed with autism.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are plans to do so following the recommendations of the Learning Disability Review Report, for which I refer to question S1W-11328 answered on 30 November.

Body Piercing

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its consultation document on the control of skin piercing has been issued.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive consultation document on skin piercing is being published today and is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre and on the Executive’s website.

Environment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-11158 and S1O-2694 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 24 November and 14 December 2000, whether representatives of the Executive were part of the UK delegation to the UN Climate Change Summit in The Hague or whether Scotland was represented at The Hague by Mr John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, and Mr Michael Meacher.

Mr Sam Galbraith: As I stated in my answer to question S1O-2964, Scotland, and the rest of the UK, was represented at The Hague by John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, and Michael Meacher. Two officials from the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department were part of the UK delegation.

Europe

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many bilateral meetings between Her Majesty’s Government and member states of the EU have been attended by representatives from the Executive, when these meetings were held, who represented the Executive and member states and what the purpose was of each meeting.

Mr Jack McConnell: Information at the level of detail requested is not recorded comprehensively. Examples are Sarah Boyack’s attendance at a meeting in London in October of this year between Noel Dempsey of the Irish Government and Michael Meacher to discuss implementation of EU environment policy, and some of the bilateral discussions with Germany, France, Ireland and Denmark during the course of the fisheries negotiations between the EU and Norway last month. Where the Scottish Executive is not present, devolved interests will always be subject to consultation and agreement in advance.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to identify and remove any barriers to closer working between health boards and local authorities, what barriers to closer working have been identified to date and when it expects any such barriers to have been removed.

Susan Deacon: The Joint Future Group has identified and agreed a list of measures which all local authorities, health boards and NHS trusts should put in place to deliver effective, integrated services and has set deadlines by which this should be done. We are currently consulting on the group’s report.

  The Scottish health plan, Our National Health, published on 14 December, commits the Executive to introducing the Joint Future Group’s recommendations on joint resourcing and joint management, and to legislating if necessary to remove any remaining barriers to joint working between the NHS, social work and housing departments.

  Our National Health also makes clear that local authorities will have a strong voice on the new Unified NHS Boards through membership of the boards. It also commits NHS Boards to joint planning with local authorities in their areas, so that health planning and community planning are integrated. The Health Plan commits NHS Boards to work with local authorities and other partners to understand and respond to the needs of patients and communities, to improve the health of their communities and to deliver healthcare and other related services.

  The Scottish Executive will monitor the progress of NHS bodies and local authorities in working together at local level to make these developments happen.

Information Technology

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is progressing digital inclusion initiatives for adults.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Through its Digital Scotland initiative, the Scottish Executive is working towards pervasive and affordable access to the web for people in Scotland. We are committed to achieving universal access to the web by 2005. We are promoting digital inclusion in Social Inclusion Partnerships, including establishing a network of locally based ICT champions and supporting ICT facilities, in consultation with local communities and partners.

  Specific actions to ensure all people may take advantage of the opportunities that ICTs present are the Community Access to Lifelong Learning (CALL) programme and the learndirect scotland initiative.

  The CALL programme is funded by the New Opportunities Fund. CALL has been established to engage more adults in learning at a community level by developing support for ICT access to information and learning opportunities. Some £23 million has been earmarked for spending in Scotland.

  People need to learn how to use new technology effectively if they are to feel comfortable with it and reap the benefits it offers. To that end, anyone, anywhere in Scotland can now get access to learning at a time and a place to suit them. The Executive’s flagship for lifelong learning – learndirect scotland - has been operational since October, simplifying access to learning at all levels. Through its services anyone aged 18 or over can also register for an Individual Learning Account to help them pay for the learning they do. Discounts of 80% are available for basic IT skills courses to help adults grasp and exploit the opportunities that ICT presents.

Information Technology

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is progressing digital inclusion initiatives for children.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is committed to major improvements in the ICT infrastructure in schools. Over £80 million has been made available to Scottish local authorities to develop the National Grid for Learning in schools which will ensure that all school pupils will have access to computers, the Internet and e-mail. Internet access is already available in 49% of primary schools and 97% of secondary schools, compared to 22% and 73% in 1998, and all schools will be connected by 2002.

  The Scottish Executive is also looking at how to provide broadband links to Scottish schools, so that pupils and teachers everywhere in the country will be able to benefit from equal access to e-mail, videoconferencing, high-quality educational materials and other resources and services.

Information Technology

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the use of digital technology in business is being encouraged.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In February 2000, Henry McLeish launched a series of initiatives to accelerate the uptake of e-commerce by Scottish businesses. These were the First Steps into E-Commerce workshops, Digital Advantage workshops, Ecomm2000 consultancy packages, a national e-promotion campaign and the creation of a Director of E-Commerce at Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise also runs a Winners at the Web competition to highlight examples of best practice, organises high profile events such as E-Commerce week and offers advice and signposting through its own website. Highlands and Islands Enterprise offers a similar range of assistance including advice, seminars and workshops.

  The Executive was involved in the establishment of 10 local support centres in Scotland which provide the delivery mechanism for these initiatives. Most are now integrated within the Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise networks.

Local Government Finance

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the additional resources for Falkirk Council announced by the Minister for Finance and Local Government on 7 December 2000 will be allocated to the council’s Public/Private Partnership to fund school buildings.

Peter Peacock: The allocation to Falkirk Council announced on 7 December includes Level Playing Field Support for Schools of approximately £26 million. Falkirk Council’s single capital allocation will also rise to approximately £9 million (a 44.6% increase) over the next three years. The Single Allocation covers roads and transport, education, social work, private housing and general services (including coast protection and flood prevention). It is for Falkirk Council to decide how its Single Allocation is spent.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the dearth of therapeutic and recreational activities for mentally ill patients in general psychiatry facilities reported in the Mental Welfare Commission Annual Report 1999-2000 is addressed.

Malcolm Chisholm: Care appropriate to needs is a fundamental principle underlying Our National Health: A plan for action, A plan for change . The whole person and well-being needs of those with a mental illness should not be neglected. Good, improved practice is developing across Scotland. However, I recognise that we are seeing improvement from a relatively low base and I look to health boards, NHS Trusts and the other care agencies, including the voluntary sector, to ensure that the services they organise or finance respond better than in the past to these important dimensions of need.

Planning

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has conducted or intends to conduct a review of the impact of planning regulations on rural development.

Mr Sam Galbraith: National Planning Policy Guideline 15: Rural Development was published in February 1999. It sets out how the statutory land use planning system can assist the rural areas of Scotland achieve sustainable development and was prepared in the light of concerns about how the planning system impacted on rural development. Research will be carried out by the end of 2003 to examine the effectiveness of NPPG 15. The research will indicate whether any revision of this recent guidance is necessary.

Police

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many internal cases of (i) racial discrimination, (ii) racial harassment, (iii) sexual discrimination and (iv) sexual harassment in the police force were reported; (b) how many of these cases were investigated, and (c) how many of these cases resulted in prosecution in each year since 1995, broken down by police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The detailed information requested is not held centrally.

Public Appointments

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Lucy Crone, recently appointed as a part-time chairman of Employment Tribunals, is a member of the Law Society of Scotland and what credentials she holds with respect to practising in Scottish law.

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Lucy Crone, recently appointed as part-time chairman of Employment Tribunals, holds a position with UNISON and whether this has any implications for her ability to be a neutral chairman on employment matters.

Mr Jim Wallace: Appointments to the Panel of Chairmen of Employment Tribunals in Scotland are made by the Lord President of the Court of Session. The information requested is not held by the Scottish Executive. Ministerial responsibility for Employment Tribunals rests with the UK Government.

Public Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures it has in place to monitor the expenditure by local authorities of sums allocated under the Public Transport Fund.

Sarah Boyack: Local authorities are required to submit to the Executive initial action plans detailing the timescale of their project works and quarterly monitoring reports setting out details of expenditure incurred on each of the projects which receive awards from the Public Transport Fund.

Public Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many projects have been funded under the Public Transport Fund and what the date of completion or expected completion is for each project.

Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-10371 on 1 November in which I listed the estimated completion dates of 33 of the 52 projects which are receiving support from the Public Transport Fund. Since then a further project, Ellon Park and Ride (Aberdeenshire Council), was completed in November.

  On 9 November, I announced awards for 19 projects which are due to be completed between 2001-02 and 2003-04. Local authorities are not required to submit action plans detailing the timescales for implementing these new projects until prior to the start of the funding period in April 2001, therefore estimated completion dates are not presently available.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is regarding the Larkhall rail link and when an announcement is anticipated.

Sarah Boyack: I refer Mr MacAskill to the answer to question S1W-9959 given on 9 October 2000.

Roads

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding the A75 and the draft Multi-annual Indicative Transport Programme to be published by the European Commission on 18 December 2000.

Sarah Boyack: To be considered for funding under the trans-European Network (TEN), Multi-annual Indicative Programme (MIP) schemes had to be submitted to the Commission as part of a combined UK bid by 16 October 2000. The two schemes currently identified for the A75 were not sufficiently advanced in their design or preparation to meet the MIP criteria at that stage.

Rural Transport

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the results of the review of the operation of the Rural Transport Fund.

Sarah Boyack: A report on the evaluation of the Rural Transport Funding Package will be published later this year, and copies will be made available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Speech and Language Therapy

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to recruit and retain speech and language therapists in schools.

Nicol Stephen: Education authorities are required to make adequate provision for pupils with speech and language impairment. Grant-aided expenditure of £6.5 million per year from April 1999 is available to local authorities for speech and language therapy services for pupils with Records of Needs.

  In addition, Scottish Ministers are committed to a review of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy services for children. The issues relating to the recruitment of speech and language therapists will be addressed as part of this review. Scottish Executive Education and Health Department officials have been consulting on the remit and timescale of the review, in association with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy. Ministers will make a decision on the final remit soon.

Tourism

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to encourage tourist visits to Scotland.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The Scottish Tourist Board and the British Tourist Authority are responsible for encouraging tourist visits through the generic marketing of Scotland as a tourism destination. A New Strategy for Scottish Tourism , published in February, contains many new actions designed to grow tourism throughout Scotland.

Transport

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage private hire car access to bus and taxi lanes across Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, local road authorities are responsible for all aspects of road safety, road maintenance and traffic management on local roads in their area. It is up to each individual council to consider the need for particular measures to safeguard road users and to determine the priority that should be given to particular schemes in the light of competing demands on their resources. This could include the making of traffic regulation orders allowing private hire cars access to a specific part of the road, such as a bus lane.

Waste Management

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken as a result of the 1995 report on dioxin levels from the Baldovie incinerator at Dundee.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I am not aware of any specific report in 1995 on dioxin levels from the Baldovie incinerator. Routine measurements of dioxin levels would, however, have been taken by Her Majesty’s Industrial Pollution Inspectorate during the period up to the plant’s closure in 1996. The plant ceased to operate because it was unable to meet the new emission standards required by the EC Hazardous Waste Incineration Directive.

Waste Management

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the 1999 report by Dundee City Council into dioxin levels from the Baldovie incinerator at Dundee that found no excessive levels of dioxin, what plans it has to ensure that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency continues monitoring all areas of the site.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The 1999 report for Dundee City Council examined a range of pollutant levels around the site of the former incinerator at Baldovie, which closed in 1996. The report concluded that there was no evidence of gross pollution associated with the plant. The new incinerator at Baldovie, which began operating last year, is regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

  Monitoring of the site at and around the incinerator at Baldovie is carried out by a specialist firm for the plant operator. The Scottish Executive is satisfied that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency ensures that the correct methodology is used for taking these measurements and that the firm undertaking the work is suitably qualified. Monitoring at Baldovie shows that dioxin levels are well within the limits imposed in SEPA’s authorisation.

Water Authorities

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10333 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 20 November 2000, whether any water authority sought advice from or made representations to the Executive regarding exemption from the Competition Act 1998, and whether public authorities seeking such exemption apply directly to Her Majesty’s Government or whether all applications are made through the Executive.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The water authorities have not sought advice from or made representations to the Executive about exemptions under the Competition Act 1998. The Executive and the authorities are proceeding on the basis that, within the framework of legislation that the Water Services Bill will establish, competition will work to the benefit of the authorities’ customers by delivering innovation, greater efficiency and improved services.

  As a matter of principle, public bodies for which the Executive is accountable to the Scottish Parliament would not seek exemptions without the Executive’s agreement.